Chief minister Edappadi K Palanisamy and union urban development minister Venkiah Naidu on Sunday jointly inaugurated the 7.4km stretch from Koyambedu to Nehru Park at a function held in Thirumangalam station from where the duo also took a ride on the maiden train service till Nehru Park.

Chennai now has become the fourth city in the country to have an operational underground metro rail network .

Several state ministers and a host of state and central government officials were on board the first train which was flagged off around quarter for 11am.

The first two rides were non stop services on both directions from Thirumangalam to Nehru Park.
CMRL allowed people to enjoy free rides for the first couple of hours, which attracted thousands of people, mainly the second service which left the four-car metro train jampacked.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister urged minister Naidu to expedite the approval of phase – II of CMRL, which comprises 100 plus network covering three routes in the city. Acquiescing to the chief minister's request, the union minister said, “Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will extend all possible support to achieve the dream of Jayalalithaa.”